U.S. Department of Justice finishes review of SoftBank-Sprint deal, says it has 'no objection'

It looks like SoftBank and Sprint's weekend just got a little bit better, as the transaction involving the two companies has been cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier this year, the DOJ asked the Federal Communications Commission to defer its review of the SoftBank-Sprint deal so that the DOJ, FBI and Department of Homeland Security could analyze the agreement for any potential threats to national security or law enforcement. Now the DOJ has sent a letter to the FCC saying that after its analysis, it has no objection to the proposed deal and that it is officially withdrawing its deferral request.

The SoftBank-Sprint transaction has already gotten the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Committee on Foreign Investment, and gaining the DOJ's approval means that it's cleared yet another hurdle on its way to completion. The deal must still be looked over by the FCC, but Sprint isn't worried about that review, telling PhoneScoop that it "[looks] forward to the Commission's prompt completion of its public interest review."

SoftBank and Sprint announced late last year that SoftBank planned to invest $20.1 billion into Sprint for a 70 percent stake in the No. 3 wireless carrier. The deal has been working its way toward completion since then, but Dish Network recently threw a wrench into the two companies' plans by making its own $25.5 billion bid for Sprint. SoftBank is confident that it will win out, though, saying that it believes that it's got the better offer and that it expects its transaction with Sprint to close by July 1. We'll just have to wait and see whether or not that actually happens, but getting the DOJ's stamp of approval has certainly improved its odds. Now that the Justice Department has OK'd the deal, do you think that the SoftBank and Sprint transaction will actually happen?

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